CSOH Current Students & Alums
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Amilcar Bisekere, PhD Candidate (Fall, 2027)
“Mapping zoonotic diseases transmission landscape among lemurs, humans, and domestic animals in rural Madagascar.”
Program: Pathobiology (One Health)
Advisors: Dr. Heather Murphy and Dr. Travis Steffens
Funding: Blake Graham Research Assistantship; Social Sciences and Humanities for One Health
About my work: My research aims to use a One Health approach to identify and map the transmission pathways of dominant zoonotic pathogens (water-borne and fecal-borne) causing disease in people, domestic animals, and lemurs (endangered species) sharing the same environment in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar.
Carys Vyn, PhD Candidate (Fall, 2025)
“Environmental Risk Factors for Canine Leptospirosis.”
Program: Population Medicine (One Health)
Advisor: Dr. Lauren Grant
Funding: One Health Partnership Award
About my work: My research is focused on understanding risks associated with leptospirosis, a neglected and climate-sensitive zoonotic disease with significant impacts on both animal and human health. Using a One Health approach, I am exploring how social, environmental, and climatic factors influence current and future risk of canine leptospirosis in Canada.
Juliet Germann, PhD Student (Summer, 2026)
“Exploring biosecurity knowledge, attitudes, and practices among Ontario sheep and goat producers.”
Program: Epidemiology (One Health)
Advisors: Dr. Kelsey Spence and Dr. Charlotte Winder
Funding: Ontario Agri-Food Alliance, Ontario Sheep Farmers, Ontario Goat, and Saputo Inc
About my work: My research aims to explore the potential for disease spread on Ontario sheep and goat farms by identifying perceptions and barriers hindering the implementation of biosecurity measures. This study will be looked at from a One Health lens, exploring human, animal, and environmental factors that influence biosecurity use.
Sydney DeWinter, PhD Candidate (Fall, 2025)
“Investigating the risk of introduction and establishment of Leishmania spp., and their vectors, associated with the importation of dogs from endemic regions, into Canada”
Program: Population Medicine (Epidemiology and One Health)
Advisor: Dr. Katie Clow
Funding: OVC Graduate Scholarship and Ontario Graduate Scholarship (AKC Canine Health Foundation Grant for my research)
About my work: My research focuses on both epidemiological and ecological aspects of Leishmania spp. and their sand fly vectors, both in the context of Canadian canine importation, and climate change. I hope to provide more information regarding the current state of canine leishmaniosis cases in Canada and inform future risk of this zoonotic disease.
Publications
Ecological determinants of leishmaniasis vector, Lutzomyia spp.: A scoping review.
DeWinter, S., Shahin, K., Fernandez-Prada, C., Greer, A. L., Weese, J. S. and Clow, K. M. Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 2024-07, 1-14 | Read PDF | Read Online
Multiple species of canine Rhipicephalus complex detected in Canada.
Meyers, S., Clow, K. M., DeWinter, S., Sundstorm, K. and Little, S.
Veterinary Parasitology: Regional Studies and Report (Amsterdam), 2024-02, Vol.48, p.100976-100976, Article 100976 | Read PDF | Read Online
Infestation patterns of Ixodes scapularis and Dermacentor vareiabilis on dogs and cats across Canada
DeWinter, Sydney ; Bauman, Cathy ; Peregine, Andrew ; Weese, J Scott ; Clow, Katie M; Stevenson, Brian
PloS one, 2023-02, Vol.18 (2), p.e0281192-e0281192 | Read PDF | Read Online
Assessing the spatial and temporal patterns and risk factors for acquisition of Ixodes spp. by companion animals across Canada.
DeWinter, Sydney ; Bauman, Cathy ; Peregrine, Andrew ; Weese, J. Scott ; Clow, Katie M.
Ticks and tick-borne diseases, 2023-03, Vol.14 (2), p.102089-102089, Article 102089 |
Manuel Perez Maldonado, PhD Student (2025)
“Investigating the role of the environment on antimicrobial resistance occurrence in Canadian settings.”
Program: Epidemiology
Advisor: Dr. Jane Parmley
Funding: The Public Health Agency of Canada, and the Bioaerosols project (Universite Laval)
About my work: I’m collecting and analyzing environmental antimicrobial resistance data with different One Health and modelling approaches.
Publications
Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment: Towards Elucidating the Roles of Bioaerosols in Transmission and Detection of Antibacterial Resistance Genes
George, P. B., Rossi, F., St-Germain, M. W., Amato, P., Badard, T., Bergeron, M. G., Maldonado, M.P…. & Duchaine, C. (2022). Antibiotics, 11(7), 974. | Read PDF | Read Online
John Mallare, PhD Candidate (Summer, 2026)
“Paws for Thought: A Mixed Methods Approach to Investigating Climate Change and Companion Animal Zoonoses”
Program: Population Medicine (Epidemiology)
Advisor: Dr. Lauren Grant
Funding: Public Health Agency of Canada
About my work: Companion animals remain an underappreciated source of zoonoses, and the potential for zoonotic transmission is compounded by climate change. My work aims to describe climate-sensitive companion animal zoonoses with an emphasis on using advanced analytics to ascertain the risk of current and future climate trends on Lyme disease in Ontario, Canada.
John Mallare, MSc: Winter, 2024
“Exploring COVID-19 Morbidity and Mortality During the First Three Epidemic Waves in Ontario, Canada: A One Health Perspective to Assessing Risk”
Program: Population Medicine (One Health)
Advisor: Dr. Olaf Berke
Funding: Centre for Advancing Responsible and Ethical Artificial Intelligence, One Health Institute
About my work: Atmospheric pollutants recognized as respiratory stressors can originate from intensive animal farming. Using a One Health perspective and machine learning, my work explored regional variations in prolonged exposure to atmospheric pollutants associated with animal farming as risk factors for COVID-19 in Ontario, Canada.
Publications
Mallare, John. MSc. Thesis: Exploring COVID-19 Morbidity and Mortality During the First Three Epidemic Waves in Ontario, Canada: A One Health Perspective to Assessing Risk. Department of Population Medicine, May, 2023.
Kerry Schutten, Alumna (Summer, 2024)
“Plastic Pollution and Canadian Birds: Surveillance, Ecology, and Health Impacts.”
Program: Pathobiology
Advisors: Dr. Claire Jardine (Pathobiology), and Dr. Jennifer Provencher with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)
Funding: OVC Graduate Scholarship, Ontario Graduate Scholarship, and The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative as well as ECCC.
About my work: The central aim of my doctoral thesis was to use a One Health approach to address critical knowledge gaps surrounding our understanding of plastic pollution in Canada, with a focus on health impacts on birds and freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems.
Publications
Assessing plastic ingestion in birds of prey from British Columbia, Canada.
Schutten, Kerry ; Chandrashekar, Akshaya ; Bourdages, Madelaine ; Bowes, Victoria ; Elliott, John ; Lee, Sandi ; Redford, Tony ; Provencher, Jennifer ; Jardian, Claire ; Wilson, Laurie
Environmental science and pollution research international, 2023-07, Vol.30 (31), p.76631-76639 | Read PDF | Read Online
Population dynamics and the influence of blight on American chestnut at its northern range limit: Lessons for conservation.
Van Drunen, Stephen G. ; Schutten, Kerry ; Bowen, Christine ; Boland, Greg J. ; Husband, Brian C. Forest ecology and management, 2017-09, Vol.400, p.375-383 | Read PDF | Read Online
How do life history and behaviour influence plastic ingestion risk in Canadian freshwater and terrestrial birds?
Schutten, Kerry ; Chandrashekar, Akshaya ; Dougherty, Laura ; Stevens, Brian ; Parmley, E. Jane ; Pearl, David ; Provencher, Jennifer F. ; Jardine, Claire M.
Environmental pollution (1987), 2024-04, Vol.347, p.123777-123777, Article 123777 | Read PDF | Read Online
Plastic ingestion, accumulated heavy metals, and health metrics of four Larus gull species feeding at a coastal landfill in eastern Canada.
Schutten, Kerry ; Morrill, André ; Chandrashekar, Akshaya ; Stevens, Brian ; Parmley, E. Jane ; Cunningham, Joshua T. ; Robertson, Gregory J. ; Mallory, Mark L. ; Jardine, Claire ; Provencher, Jennifer F.
Journal of hazardous materials, 2024-09, Vol.476, p.135107, Article 135107 | Read PDF | Read Online
West Nile virus seroconversion in eastern Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius Ludovicianus Migrans) after vaccination with a killed vaccine.
Schutten, Kerry ; Chabot, Amy ; Wheeler, Hazel
Journal of zoo and wildlife medicine, 2021-04, Vol.52 (1), p.185-191 | Read Online
Successful foaling by a Standardbred mare with a ruptured prepubic tendon.
Schutten, Kerry J V
Canadian veterinary journal, 2016-12, Vol.57 (12), p.1287-1289 | Read PDF | Read Online